Doctor convicted: catastrophic emergency management ends fatal!

Doctor convicted: catastrophic emergency management ends fatal!

Vorarlberg, Österreich - A Vorarlberg internist was recently convicted of negligent killing after a patient died after complications during endoscopy. The doctor, who has 35 years of professional experience and around 50,000 endoscopies carried out, had made numerous mistakes in emergency management in December 2021. According to a judicial procedure that had already led to a conviction in a first legal process, the doctor was spoken again after the judgment had been abolished. The punishment is 26,000 euros, but is not yet final, as the Kleine Zeitung

After endoscopy, the patient showed a dangerously low oxygen saturation of only 23 percent than the rescue workers arrived. Court experts indicated that laying the respiratory tract was the most likely cause of this state, which was possibly caused by the patient's tongue. The judge expressed considerable doubts about the doctor's information on ventilation, which was insufficiently defined in this situation. The 46-year-old stayed without oxygen after the incident and died in the hospital a few days later.

error in emergency management

The treating doctor who is in possession of an emergency doctor diploma should not only have taken additional emergency measures, but should also initiate a cardiac massage. In the tense situation, the doctor was overwhelmed and gave great hopes for quick support from the emergency doctor team. These circumstances contributed to his guilty verdict and clearly show the dangers of lack of preparation and inadequate immediate measures in critical moments.

The correct use of oxygen therapy plays a crucial role in such transition phases. Oxygen, as a drug in acute medicine, was often administered in the past without reasonable requirements. Among other things, in British hospitals, 42 percent of patients did not receive any medical written regulation for the oxygen gift, as in the Ärzteblatt is held.

oxygen therapy in focus

In the summer of 2021, the first national S3 guideline for acute therapy with oxygen was published in Germany. This defines the oxygen saturation as a central target parameter to treat hypoxemia, not to relieve shortness of breath. Hypoxemia is defined as an oxygen saturation of less than 90 percent, and the correct application of therapy can make vital differences, especially in patients with comorbidities or critically ill people.

The guideline recommends specific target areas for oxygen saturation that vary depending on the patient. For example, the SPO2 value should be between 92 and 96 percent for patients without a hypercapal risk. When it comes to oxygen therapy, it should be noted that this must be monitored and documented in order to avoid risks such as hyperoxemia and other undesirable side effects, as can be seen from the information on PMC